Ladies and Gentlemen, Will You Please Stand?
by inimitabler
Summary: The day has finally come: Rachel and Quinn are getting married. But Rachel can't stop thinking about her first attempt at a wedding and if she was doomed from the start. Inspired by the song Lover by Taylor Swift


_My heart's been borrowed, and yours has been blue,  
__All's well that ends well to end up with you  
__Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover_

Today was the day.

The day Rachel Berry was getting married.

Except she had been through this before. The motions, that is. The proposal, the bridal shop escapades, the planning (or lack thereof). She had set a date, shown up to the courthouse, gotten all dolled up, stalled as long as she possibly could, and wished for _something_ to happen to stop that wedding.

Evidently, someone had heard her wishes, and they had answered in the form of a half-asleep man driving a pickup truck and crashing into a red Volkswagen Beetle just minutes away from the courthouse.

It hadn't been close enough to hear the crash, but the unmistakable sirens of an ambulance could be heard for miles. The blaring noise had sent a chill up Rachel's spine, and she had just _known._

She had been texting Quinn. While Quinn was driving. And then she heard an ambulance.

It was a lot of jumping to conclusions, but somehow Rachel had just known.

They had walked out of the courthouse, the whole lot of them, looked down the long stretch of empty road, and saw the ambulance at the furthest intersection. And, so far out in the distance, Rachel could hardly make out the scene of the accident, but she could see the small, red car flipped over on its side, and she fell to her knees. In her white wedding dress and all. And in that moment, Rachel knew she was never getting married to Finn Hudson. Not when she was more concerned about Quinn being at her wedding than actually getting married. Not when her knees gave out at the mere thought that Quinn could be hurt. Or seriously injured. Possibly even dead.

And Rachel had been texting her.

And now, here she was, on her wedding day (take two), and she was texting Quinn again.

But this time, Quinn was texting back.

_I miss you,_ Rachel typed.

_**Baby, you know we're not supposed to be talking. But I miss you too.**_

Rachel sighed. Of course Quinn had insisted on sticking to the one tradition of not seeing the bride on the day of the wedding, which was why Quinn had spent the night at Santana's, and Rachel was at Kurt's, to ensure that they wouldn't see each other in case either of them were to need something from their apartment.

Rachel had tried to argue with Quinn, but it had been futile. _Rach,_ Quinn had explained, _you know I don't really believe in tradition, but look what happened back in high school. I don't wanna risk anything bad happening. I'm not letting anything stop me from getting married to you, and if that means abiding by some silly superstition, then I'm gonna do it._

And that was that.

_Can I call you? _Rachel was desperate to hear her voice.

_**Rach…**_

_Please?_

Three seconds later, her phone was buzzing with an incoming call from Quinn Fabray, and Rachel immediately picked up.

"Quinn?"

"_Good morning, Rach._" Quinn drawled, her voice low and scratchy from lack of use.

"Did I wake you?"

"_No, I've just been laying in bed for a bit. I think San and Britt are in the kitchen._"

"Oh, okay. Good."

It was silent for a moment, and then Quinn said, "_Is everything alright?_"

"Yeah. Well," Rachel paused. "No, not exactly."

"_You… you're not having second thoughts, are you?" _Quinn asked nervously.

"No! No, of course not! No, Quinn, I wanted to marry you the day you asked, and I wanted to marry you yesterday, and I still want to marry you today."

The blonde sighed, "_God, I'm sorry. I knew that. I just panicked for a second there. But really, what's going on?_"

"I can't stop thinking about… that day. Senior year." Rachel admitted.

"_Rach,_" Quinn started, but was quickly interrupted.

"I know it's stupid, and I know it was such a long time ago, but I'm just so afraid that something is going to happen again." Rachel explained in a rush. "And I know we're taking all of these precautions, like this stupid tradition that doesn't let me see you and hold your hand and kiss you until later today, but it doesn't stop me from worrying. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. I don't think I could handle that again."

"_Nothing is gonna happen to me._" Quinn tried.

"But you don't know that! We've been through this, Quinn! Nothing was supposed to happen to you that day either." Rachel knew she was being overdramatic and irrational, but she couldn't help herself.

"_Baby, that car crash, as awful as it was, might have been one of the best things to happen to me. Because it gave me you. I would get hit by a hundred cars if it meant I got to spend the rest of my life with you._"

Rachel gasped, "Quinn, don't say things like that! I know you're trying to sound all romantic, but that is not funny."

"_It's true though._" Quinn laughed. "_But, regardless, that isn't going to happen. Nothing is going to happen. I told you that nothing was gonna stop me from marrying you, and I meant it._"

Rachel stopped. God, she loved this woman. She loved this woman more than anything in her entire life.

"_You're thinking about how much you love me, aren't you?_" Quinn joked.

"I hate you." Rachel deadpanned.

"_No, you don't. You love me._"

"I do," Rachel promised. "I love you so much."

"_I love you more._" There was quiet talking, shuffling, and Rachel strained to hear what was going on. "_No, Santana–Really, Berry? You couldn't handle not talking to her for one day? Yeah, yeah, Quinn, I will. We gots to go. Busy day, yeah? Q says she loves you. Bye._"

And then the call ended.

Rachel took a deep breath and couldn't stop the smile that was taking over her face. Today was her wedding day, and she was going to marry Quinn Fabray. Her former tormentor turned friend turned more. Her fiancée, the love of her life. And she'd be damned if she was going to let anything stand in her way.

* * *

And, apparently, there were a lot of obstacles trying to stand in her way today.

First, Kurt had instantly taken her phone from her when he heard from Santana that she had spoken to Quinn.

Next, Rachel had gone to the dry cleaners with Kurt to pick up his tuxedo, and it had somehow gone missing. They had spent forty-five minutes waiting at the cleaners to find it.

Then, after their schedule had already been delayed because of the tuxedo debacle, they got caught in unexpected traffic on their way to the wedding venue.

Once they arrived (one hour later than they were supposed to), all Rachel wanted to do was find her (almost) wife and fall into her arms. But she couldn't. Because they had to get married first.

"Oh my god, I'm getting married." Rachel blurted out.

Kurt and her dads (her half of the bridal party) stopped in their movements and turned to look at the brunette, who had stopped getting ready and was simply staring at herself in the mirror. They looked at each other cautiously, not knowing what to say.

"Uh… yeah, Rachel. That's kinda why we're here." Kurt chuckled.

"I'm actually getting married. To Quinn Fabray, of all people. She is going to be my wife. Quinn Fabray is going to be my wife." Rachel continued, still staring at her reflection.

Hiram and Leroy exchanged worried glances. "Rachel, what's going on?" Hiram asked.

Suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall down her cheeks. She turned to face her dads, who instantly got up and wrapped her in a tight hug. Kurt quietly slipped out of the room to give the family this moment alone.

"I just can't believe this is really happening." Rachel murmured into one of her fathers' shoulders.

"Your wedding? Or your wedding with Quinn?" Leroy softly asked.

"Both." Rachel answered honestly, pulling away from her parents and looking them in the eyes. "When I was younger, I always pictured my wedding to be a certain way."

Hiram smiled. "You wanted to get married by our rabbi at temple, and you would get married to a handsome Broadway star, and you would make us practice walking you down the aisle, especially since there would be two of us, and Barbra would be sitting right in the front row."

"Exactly. As I got older, my vision of my wedding obviously changed although I would still love for Barbra to be here. I saw myself marrying a kind and honest person, who usually was a man in my head, and I still saw myself being walked down the aisle by the two of you, bright smiles on all of our faces." Rachel elaborated. "I know we don't talk about it a lot, but when the fever wedding happened, so many things felt wrong, but I kept trying to push those thoughts away. I wanted to marry Finn. No, I wanted to want to marry Finn."

Her fathers had always been great listeners, and Rachel had never been more appreciative of that than in this moment. Knowing they were going to wait until she was finished to comment, she continued.

"I wanted to want to marry him. He was a kind and honest boy. Man. What else could I have asked for? But my mind kept going back to that image of you two walking me down the aisle, and I knew that my image wouldn't be complete. Because you two would not have smiles on your faces." Rachel paused to gather her thoughts. "It frustrated me. Knowing you pretended to support the engagement when you really did not approve. And I knew I couldn't get married without that image being genuine.

"So now, here I am, again, on my wedding day. I'm here, not marrying a handsome Broadway star, but rather a sensitive and gorgeous writer. I'm here, not at temple with our rabbi, but rather at this gorgeous venue being married by an officiant. I'm here, no Barbra sitting in the front row, but rather with all of my closest friends and family filling countless rows. I'm here marrying the most kind and honest person I know, who is also my best friend and my soulmate. This is not at all what I expected my wedding to look like, but this is what it is. And you two are here, ready to walk me down the aisle, and I have to ask: will there be genuine smiles on your faces? Because I can't do this without your support. I won't. Not this time."

Both men gazed at their daughter. Their little girl was all grown up. And now she was a talented, successful, incredible woman. Who had fallen for an equally talented, successful, incredible woman. Despite the girls' history, the Berry men knew that their love was real. Genuine. One for the ages. And who were they to stand in the way of true love?

Hiram and Leroy shared a look, and they knew.

"We love you, Rachel. And we love Quinn. Our smiles today will be real, and they will be the brightest in the entire room." Leroy promised.

"With the exception of Quinn's when she sees you." Hiram added.

Rachel hugged them again. "Thank you for being the best parents. I love you."

She released them and wiped the tears from her eyes, gently laughing at herself. "I'm already crying, and I haven't even seen Quinn yet."

"Thank God for waterproof mascara." Kurt announced as he walked back into the room. "Just wait until we get to your 'something borrowed.'"

"Is Quinn here? Have you seen her?" Rachel was desperate to hear anything about her.

"Yes, she's here, and I've seen her."

"And?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "And she is perfectly intact and just as gorgeous as ever. She's good, Rachel, okay?"

She nodded, her eyes slowly widening in realization. "Oh my god, I'm getting married in two hours. What are we all doing just standing around? I need to finish my makeup and do my hair and take pictures and-"

Laughing at her antics, Hiram said. "There she is.

* * *

Two hours later found Rachel, all dressed up and ready to go, anxiously waiting to walk into the room and finally get married.

Her 'something borrowed', as it was, had turned out to be a bracelet from Shelby.

"_This was my mother's," Shelby explained, tears in her eyes. "She passed it on to me, and I want to pass it on to you."_

_Rachel was speechless. "What about Beth?"_

"_Well, I was hoping that Quinn might consider passing something along in the future." Shelby said, taking Rachel's hands in her own. "Rachel, I know we haven't had the most ideal relationship, and everything is very complicated, especially considering Beth and Quinn, but I want you to know that I love you, and I want to be there for you in whatever capacity you want. No more, no less."_

Needless to say, a few tears had been shed by the both of them.

Rachel had hugged Shelby, let her put the bracelet around her wrist, and promised that things were going to be okay between them.

How far they had all come from high school.

And now, Rachel, yet again, just wanted to see Quinn and tell her what had happened. But she had to wait. Again.

Since they had decided that Quinn would walk down the aisle first, Rachel had to wait even longer in her dressing room.

"Is it three yet? Can we get this show on the road?" Rachel asked.

"Patience is a virtue, Rachel." Leroy replied.

The brunette huffed. "It is my wedding day, and I just want to see my wife already. Why is this so difficult?"

Rachel paused and smiled when she realized what she had said. _My wife. _The words rolled off her tongue beautifully.

Oh God, was she going to be one of those people who never stopped talking about their significant other? Hell, she already was. Various people had informed her on countless occasions that she was always talking about Quinn in one form or another. Except now it wouldn't be Quinn, her girlfriend, or Quinn, her fiancée; it would be Quinn, her _wife._

Rachel couldn't wait any longer.

"I am gonna walk down the aisle right now if Quinn doesn't-"

"Okay, it's showtime!" Kurt jumped up from his seat. "Quinn is leaving her room now!"

Rachel's heart started pounding. This was really happening. She was getting married. To Quinn Fabray. She would get to spend the rest of her life with her.

Quinn would walk down the aisle, Judy at her side. Then, Kurt and Santana would walk together as the Rachel and Quinn's best man and maid of honor, respectively. Then, Brittany would walk by herself as their unofficial flower girl.

Quinn wanted Brittany in her bridal party, but since they did not technically have any bridesmaids or bridesmen, she fell into the role of flower girl.

(Quinn had considered asking Beth to accompany Brittany as flower girl, but she felt too nervous in the end. Baby steps.)

So Brittany was their flower girl/bridesmaid. And then Rachel would proceed, with her fathers on either side of her. And she would get to be with Quinn. Finally.

"This is it, baby girl. How are you feeling? Excited? Scared? Nervous?" Hiram grinned brightly.

Rachel gulped. "All of the above? I just want to see her."

"And you will." Leroy finished. "Let's get you married."

Rachel stood, taking her dads' hands and squeezing them tightly. They left the room, Kurt leading the way, and Rachel could hear the beginnings of the song that Quinn had chosen to walk down the aisle to.

"_Really, Quinn?" Rachel had asked when Quinn had told her what song she'd chosen. "Elvis? The cheesiest song ever?"_

_Quinn grinned. "It's a classic, Rach. And besides, every word is true. I couldn't help falling in love with you."_

Rachel, herself, had chosen a piano version of a modern showtune, of course. _You Matter to Me _from the musical _Waitress_. The song perfectly summed up her and Quinn's relationship. In whatever way, shape, or form, they had always mattered to each other. Even in high school when they were supposed to hate each other, they always somehow found their way back to one another. They mattered to each other.

They arrived right outside the doors to the hall, and Rachel suddenly grew very nervous.

"This is your last chance, Berry." Santana commented, waiting for Kurt to join her. "Run while you can."

"Never." Rachel declared.

"Your loss."

Santana winked, placed her arm in Kurt's, and they turned the corner and walked through the doors. Brittany followed shortly after, flowers in hand, and then it was just Rachel and her parents.

And the blaring sirens of an ambulance.

One moment, it was silent, nothing but the soft melodic sounds of a piano coming from the hall. Then, there it was. It was distant, but it was there. Sirens. Loud, screaming sirens.

The memories flooded back.

Standing in her white dress, hearing the loud sirens from a distance.

A red Volkswagen Beetle tipped over on its side.

A blonde, trapped inside the car, soaked in her own blood.

Rachel couldn't breathe.

"Daddy," She cried out.

"Rachel, honey, listen to me, okay?" Leroy spoke softly, grasping his daughter's hands tightly in his own. "Everything is okay. Quinn is okay. Those sirens aren't for Quinn. I promise you they aren't. She is waiting for you right through those doors."

Hiram wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulders, and Leroy took her hands and placed them on his chest, exaggerating his breaths. "Breathe with me, honey. In and out."

Slowly, Rachel's breathing returned to normal, and she wiped the tears from her eyes. Leroy released her hands and wrapped her in a hug, Hiram joining in too.

"Quinn's okay. She's right through those doors." Rachel repeated Leroy's words.

"Yes, she is. Let's go see her." Hiram said.

Rachel took a deep breath and linked her arms through her fathers'. Hiram handed her the bouquet of gardenias that she and Quinn both decided to carry. (It was kind of their flower.)

They stepped towards the door, and Rachel stopped. She looked up at her dads; bright smiles lit their faces, and Rachel knew this was it.

"Let's do this."

* * *

The moment she saw Quinn, Rachel's heart stopped.

And then quickly sped up again, because she wasn't about to die on her wedding day, damnit.

There she was. Quinn Fabray, her soon-to-be wife, a vision in white, in all her glory.

Rachel was so in love with her.

As she walked down the aisle, she couldn't keep her eyes off of the blonde waiting for her at the end. Next to her stood Santana, who was (not-so) surreptitiously wiping a stray tear from her eye. On her side was Brittany, brightly smiling at Rachel. Kurt stood opposite the three of them, beaming at Rachel as she made her way toward the front. Consciously trying not to trip, Rachel took her final few steps before she arrived at the altar. Quinn absently handed her bouquet to Santana, and Rachel followed suit, handing hers to Kurt.

She, reluctantly, broke eye contact with Quinn and turned to her dads. They sandwiched her in a tight hug, and Rachel squeezed back just as tight. Pressing kisses to her cheeks, her dads released her and turned around to face Quinn. Rachel smiled, watching the loving expression on her face suddenly turn serious, and Quinn stuck a hand out to Leroy. Hiram laughed, and before anyone knew it, Rachel's parents were enveloping Quinn in the same way they had just done with Rachel. Quinn inhaled in shock, then slowly exhaled and simply melted into Leroy and Hiram's embrace.

Tears flooded Rachel's eyes at the sight. This was all she had ever wanted. For herself, for Quinn, for _them_. This was everything.

(The photograph taken at this very moment of Quinn and her dads would end up being one of Rachel's favorites of the entire day.)

Leroy and Hiram let go of Quinn, and Hiram turned around to Rachel, but Leroy stayed facing Quinn. He leaned in and said something to Quinn, and while Rachel was straining to hear what he said, suddenly, Hiram took her hand and spun her around. She squealed, spinning around, and when she faced Quinn again, she accepted Leroy's held out hand and gave it a firm shake, her eyes sparkling with emotion.

Leroy held onto Quinn's hand, Hiram holding onto Rachel's, and they brought the girls' hands together. They linked hands and left the altar, moving to sit in the two empty seats in the front row.

Rachel looked down at their hands, entwining her tan fingers with Quinn's pale ones, and looked back up to meet her gaze. Her hazel eyes shone with intensity, and Rachel was enthralled.

"You are so beautiful." Quinn whispered with the most reverence in her voice that Rachel had ever heard.

Rachel blushed. Even after so many years of dating, hearing Quinn Fabray tell her that she was beautiful still made her insides flutter. "So are you."

And she really was. Quinn had never looked more beautiful. She looked amazing, as she always did, but there was something extra today: her happiness. Quinn was radiating happiness and joy and love and contentment and adoration. It looked wonderful on her, as did the white, off the shoulder jumpsuit that was, or at least seemed to be, painted onto her body, highlighting all of her (very lovely, in Rachel's opinion) curves.

Rachel spared a glance out at the crowd and zeroed in on Quinn's mom, Judy, in the front row on Quinn's side, right next to Shelby and Beth. Judy had accompanied Quinn down the aisle since Russell was no longer a factor in their lives (though Rachel doubted that he would have walked with her even if he was in the picture). Regardless, Judy had seemed delighted when Quinn had asked her to walk with her, and she looked just as delighted now. Rachel briefly met her eyes, and Judy winked at her and nodded her head toward Quinn.

Rachel returned her focus to Quinn as the officiant began her introductions. As she spoke about concepts like love and commitment and trust and honesty, Rachel found herself reflecting on the past twelve years of knowing Quinn, the journey they had been on together from (seemingly) enemies to kind of friends to definite friends and then lovers. It had not been an easy one. There had been bumps, small and large, and there had been mistakes and arguments, but they had made it through. Together. And they were stronger than ever.

As Rachel's internal thoughts came to a close, she realized it was suddenly silent in the room, and all eyes were on her.

What was going on? Why was everyone, including the officiant, looking at her? Had she said something out loud?

Had she started singing without realizing?

_Should_ she start singing?

Quinn spoke, instantly drawing Rachel's attention. "I have a feeling that Rachel has not heard a word that has been spoken this entire time and has been too trapped in her own thoughts for the past ten minutes to realize that she is supposed to say her vows right now, so I guess I'll go first."

The crowd laughed. Rachel pouted, but Quinn shot an adoring look at her, and then Rachel was smiling again. Quinn took her hand, the other holding a worn-out piece of paper with scratched out words and random doodles all over it.

"Rachel," Quinn began, the room quickly going silent. Rachel made sure to stay hyper-focused on her (almost) wife's words. "I have so many things I want to say to you, but we have a lifetime ahead of us to say everything we need to say, so I can't use all of my lines now, or I won't have any left in thirty years."

Rachel chuckled, watching Quinn's eyes flash with mirth.

"So, instead, I will say this. I love you. That is one line that I will never be able to say enough. So many of us say those words every day, to friends and family and maybe even people we have never met. But they mean something. The way I love you, the way I feel about you, means so much more than I could ever put into words. And this is coming from me, the writer.

"I love you so much that I can't fully express it. Do you understand how difficult this is for me? I am a writer; using words to describe emotions and experiences is my job. And, yet, the way I feel about you is so powerful, so meaningful, so deep and intense and strong, that there are literally not enough words in the English language to fully encapsulate the depths of my love for you. And, so, I promise to love you.

"I promise to love you with everything that I have. I promise to always be by your side, no matter what, and I promise that I will spend the rest of my life searching for the words that I lack today. Because you deserve them. I love you, Rachel Barbra Berry, and I promise I will never let you doubt that."

Rachel was crying. Hard. Really, she was a mess. How could she not be?

"This isn't fair." Rachel complained through her tears. Quinn giggled softly, dropping the paper and bringing her hand up to wipe Rachel's tears away.

"I would say sorry, but I'm never going to apologize for loving you."

And Rachel started crying even harder.

She was an actress! She was supposed to be the composed one here, not Quinn. Except Rachel knew that she had always worn her heart on her sleeve, and she wasn't about to stop now.

"Quinn, I… I prepared vows, and I memorized them and everything, but I can't remember anything right now, which is making me feel like a very poor actress."

Everyone laughed, but Quinn just shook her head and smiled. "You're brilliant, baby."

"Now is the time when I would typically just start singing, but perhaps we'll save that for later." Rachel joked. "Quinn, we have been through so much together. We have known each other for over twelve years and been mutually in love for almost six years now. We have had our fair share of ups and downs, great times and terrible times, and we've made it through to the other side. And I've never loved you more than I do now.

"I thought I knew what love was before I fell in love with you, but I was so wrong. God, I was _so_ wrong. Love isn't about finding how someone fits into your plans; it is about building plans together. It isn't about changing yourself to get someone to like you; it is about someone liking you for you, faults and all. And you taught me that. So, I promise to keep loving you for the rest of my life because I am lost without you. Because love seems meaningless if it means I don't have you by my side. Because you mean everything to me. Because, at this point, I don't know how not to love you."

Rachel somehow finished her words, getting choked up at the end. Quinn was now openly crying; she lifted Rachel's hand to her mouth and pressed a gentle kiss on top.

The officiant asked for the rings, and Kurt, caught wiping his tears away, reached into his pocket and pulled out the rings.

Rachel took Quinn's left hand, sliding the band on her ring finger with only minimal shaking, and admired the way the ring looked so perfect on her gorgeous hand.

Quinn did the same, taking Rachel's left hand and sliding the matching (and slightly smaller) ring onto her ring finger. She brought Rachel's hand up to her mouth and pressed another kiss to her hand, causing Rachel to blush.

They looked into each others' eyes with matching expressions of admiration. They did it.

The officiant smiled at the women and cleared her throat. "By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you legally married. It is with great pleasure that I present to you all, for the first time, Mrs. and Mrs. Quinn and Rachel Berry-Fabray. You may kiss the bride."

And Rachel did.

She kissed Quinn with everything she had.

She kissed Quinn with the passion of twelve years of friendship, ten years of longing, and six years of love and commitment. She kissed Quinn with her whole self, flaws and all. She kissed Quinn with everything, and Quinn kissed her back with everything and then some. And it was perfect.

Their lips slid together beautifully; Rachel felt Quinn smile into the kiss. They both pulled back, and Rachel gazed into her eyes. Her _wife's_ eyes. Wow, did that sound good.

"You're my wife." Quinn said, eyes gleaming with joy.

"You're _my_ wife." Rachel grinned.

Quinn laughed loudly, taking Rachel's hand, and the blonde spun her around and dipped her. Rachel squealed, grasping Quinn's arm and shoulder.

Quinn pulled her into a searing kiss, afire with love and passion and hope and desire, and nothing had ever felt more right.

* * *

Later, at the reception, Rachel was on cloud nine.

The whole evening felt like a dream, and Rachel could not believe that it was real.

She was married to Quinn Fabray. Officially. They were wives. She would spend the rest of her life with this gorgeous, magnetic force of a woman.

As Quinn took her hand and led her to the dance floor for their first dance as a married couple, Rachel shared these thoughts with her wife.

"I can't believe any of this is real." Rachel admitted as they swayed together in the center of the room. Her hands were wrapped around Quinn's neck, playing with the hair at the back of her neck, and she felt Quinn's hands playing with the material of her dress on her lower back.

Quinn kissed her cheek. "Believe it, Rach. You're stuck with me forever. There's no going back now."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

They moved gracefully about the dance floor, _I Knew This Would Be Love_ playing in the background. While they had decided on their personal songs separately, coming to a decision on their song for the first dance had been a dual effort. Between Rachel's extensive musical knowledge and Quinn's love for the oldies and classics, they had decided that they were going to choose a song that neither of them had ever heard before: they wanted to find a song that was theirs, that had no previous memories attached to it.

It had been weeks of scouring the Internet for a love song that neither of them knew that somehow summed up their relationship and felt right. Needless to say, it had not been an easy task. They had probably listened to upwards of one hundred songs, some good, some bad, some heartwarmingly beautiful, some laughably awful. They had listened to slow ballads, upbeat songs, and everything in between. To both of their surprise, Quinn had been the one to find the song. The video had shown up in her recommended on YouTube one night when she was waiting for Rachel to get home from her show. Rachel had walked into the apartment to find Quinn sitting on the couch, gently weeping. Five minutes later, they were both crying and smiling and overjoyed that they had found the perfect song.

"This day has been pretty perfect, hasn't it?" Rachel commented over the soft music. "Everyone seems really happy. And we have everyone that matters to us here, yeah?

Rachel emphasized that last part with a nod to the adjacent table that sat their families together: Leroy, Hiram, Judy, Shelby, and Beth. She knew Quinn had had a moment of sadness in the planning process when she thought about the absence of her dad, but it had quickly been replaced with the joy from the idea of Beth being there.

Quinn smiled. "Yeah, we really do. And most importantly, you are here, and I am here, and we are beyond happy.

To prove that point, Quinn extracted herself from Rachel's hold, instead stepping back and grabbing her hand. She spun her around, dipped her, and kissed her deeply, recreating their first kiss from just hours ago. Rachel smiled into the kiss, raising one of her legs off the ground for comedic effect. And, as expected, whistles came from the surrounding tables.

For the remainder of the evening, Rachel danced until she couldn't feel her legs.

For the father-daughter dance, she and Quinn had danced with Leroy and Hiram, respectively, and they had switched halfway through the song. (Quinn had her own special dance with Judy shortly after, just for the two of them, and Rachel may have even had a solo dance with Shelby for half a song as well.)

Rachel danced with Kurt, Santana, Brittany, more with her dads, once in a group with Judy, Shelby, and Beth–that had been an interesting one. She danced with her former glee members: Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Mike, and Sam, to name a few. Sam, interestingly enough, had been sneaking glances at Kurt dancing with Mercedes while he had been with Rachel, and Rachel knew that he was long over his feelings for Mercedes.

Rachel danced with her (few) friends from college and with Quinn's (numerous) friends from college and with pretty much anyone else that was there. By the end of the night, she was absolutely beat.

Only Kurt, Sam, Santana, Brittany, and the Berry-Corcoran-Fabray clan were left when Rachel finally crashed into her seat at the head table, worn out beyond belief. With a smile on her face, she watched Quinn dance with Beth in the middle of the dance floor, just the two of them bouncing around together while the adults observed from the sides. Rachel noticed Kurt and Sam sitting together at an empty table, deeply engaged in conversation, and she made a mental note to ask Quinn about those two sometime in the near future. God knew where Brittany and Santana were.

When the final song ended, Quinn wrapped Beth in a tight hug, and Rachel marvelled at how tall Beth was getting. She was only twelve, and, though Rachel would never admit it out loud, she was already almost at Rachel's height. Her head came up to Quinn's chin, leaving her only a few inches shorter than Rachel herself. When Beth went over to hug and say goodbye to Rachel, she couldn't help but notice how close in height they really were.

Rachel bid a teary goodbye to Shelby, thanking her for the bracelet and her kind words, and promised that they would be seeing each other soon. Moments after Shelby and Beth had left the room, Quinn slowly made her way over to Rachel, pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and collapsed in the chair next to her.

"Are you as exhausted as I am?" Rachel asked her.

"Probably. But not too exhausted to share one more dance with you when we get home." Quinn winked.

"A dance, huh? That's all?"

The blonde smirked. "Guess you'll just have to wait and see."

And then, just minutes later, they were saying their goodbyes, the rest of the guests promising to take care of all of the cleaning up and letting the newlyweds enjoy the rest of their night. They made their rounds, and when Rachel saw Quinn whisper something into Sam's ear and nod toward Kurt, causing Sam to blush, she knew her suspicions were confirmed.

Rachel and Quinn left, hand in hand, and got into the car waiting to take them to a nearby hotel. She rested her head on Quinn's shoulder, and Quinn, in turn, rested her head on top of Rachel's. Once they arrived at the hotel, Quinn took Rachel's hand to help her out of the car, and they were quickly shuffled inside and escorted to their (very private) suite.

Tipsy and high on happiness, Rachel and Quinn walked into the suite, closed the door behind them, and Rachel immediately dragged Quinn into a deep, sensuous kiss. Now that they were by themselves, behind closed doors, Rachel couldn't stop herself. She pushed Quinn up against the wall, running her fingers through the short, blonde locks and moaning at the way Quinn's hands instinctively fell to her ass. Quinn pulled her closer, their bodies pressed against each other, and Rachel moaned again.

"I want you so bad." Rachel mumbled into Quinn's lips, taking her bottom lip between her own and sucking on it.

A low groan fell from Quinn's lips, and she pulled away from Rachel. Not wasting one second, Rachel instantly attached her lips to Quinn's jaw, kissing her way across her jawline and down her neck. She stopped at Quinn's pulse point and sucked on the delicate skin there, drawing another groan from her wife's lips.

"Rach… baby… wait." Quinn got out between heavy breaths.

Rachel abruptly stopped and looked into Quinn's eyes. "What? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I just…" Quinn shook her head, slowing her breaths. "There's just… something I wanted to do before we… you know…"

"Consummate our marriage?"

The blonde laughed. "Yeah, that. Here, come with me."

Rachel stepped back, giving Quinn room to take her hand and lead her into the living room area adjacent to the bed. She watched curiously as Quinn pulled her phone out from her bag, hooked it up to the speaker in the room, and searched for something on her phone.

Rachel played along, despite it being nearly two in the morning and feeling absolutely exhausted and wanting nothing more than to crawl into the king size bed and make love to her gorgeous wife. Because she loved her wife, and she knew that Quinn wouldn't be doing this right now if it wasn't important to her.

Whatever this was.

An impromptu serenade? Oh, God, a striptease?

Thankfully, a song started playing from the speakers, interrupting Rachel's train of thought. Quinn turned the volume down slightly and walked over to Rachel, taking her hand.

"I just wanted to have one more dance with you, if that is alright?" Quinn suggested shyly, her cheeks turning red.

Rachel swooned. "Of course I will dance with you, baby. I'll dance with you forever."

Quinn grinned, placing her free arm around Rachel's waist and lifting their joined hands. Rachel wrapped her other arm around Quinn's back as they began dancing to a… Taylor Swift song?

"Taylor Swift, Quinn? Really?"

"You know you love this song. Now shush and dance with your wife."

And Rachel did. She closed her mouth and danced with her wife.

She really did love this song. As they aimlessly swayed about the room, and Rachel rested her forehead against Quinn's, she came to love the song even more.

All of Rachel and Quinn's moments together in the past twelve hours had been for the two of them, but they had also been for their friends and family. Even their first dance had been watched by at least eighty pairs of eyes. This moment right now, this dance together in the privacy of this hotel suite, was theirs. No one else's. Just for the two of them.

And that's what this song was about. The connection between two people that could only truly be understood by those two people. The sacredness of their devotion and the desire to simply be together, in whatever capacity that may exist. The intense love shared by two people.

"I know I'm really starting to love calling you my wife, but I might start calling you my lover now, too." Rachel joked.

The blonde chuckled, releasing Rachel's hand to tuck some hair behind her ear. "I'm totally okay with that, but don't be surprised when Santana makes fun of you for it."

Rachel merely shrugged. "If that's the only downside to this marriage, I will gladly take it any day."

"I love you, Rachel Berry-Fabray." Quinn murmured.

"I love you, Quinn Berry-Fabray." Rachel responded.

They continued to sway together until the song ended, and they were left standing together in silence, bodies held tightly against each other.

Slowly, hesitant to break the spell, Rachel leaned back slightly and looked up into Quinn's swirling hazel eyes. They gleamed with love and adoration and all of the emotions that were reflected in Rachel's. Gently, so gently, Rachel leaned forward, tilted her head upwards, and captured Quinn's lips.

Quinn kissed her back with such tenderness that it nearly brought to tears to Rachel's eyes. They continued kissing slowly and passionately, pausing only to help each other out of their clothes, leaving them in their bras, panties, and a lacy garter wrapped around each of their left legs.

Quinn gently wrapped an arm around Rachel's back. The next moment, she was in Quinn's arms, bridal style, and Quinn was carrying her to the bed, not breaking eye contact. She carefully deposited Rachel on the bed and climbed on top of her, reconnecting their lips.

For a brief moment, Rachel thought back to earlier when she had been so worried that something would go awry. She laughed at herself internally; she had no reason to worry. She was meant to be here, with Quinn, and Rachel knew they would be this close forever.

Rachel quit her thoughts and focused back on this moment with Quinn. With her wife. She kissed her back, full of passion and promise, and nothing had ever felt more right.

_Can I go where you go?  
__Can we always be this close, forever and ever?  
__Take me out and take me home.  
__Oh, you're my, my, my, my lover._

* * *

**Author's Note: Songs mentioned:  
Can't Help Falling in Love - Elvis Presley (Kina Grannis cover)  
You Matter to Me - Waitress (piano cover)  
I Knew This Would Be Love - Imaginary Future ft. Kina Grannis  
Lover - Taylor Swift**

**Thanks for reading! Stream Lover by Taylor Swift 3**

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